


How Would You Know?

by dragonQuill907



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Hufflepuff John, M/M, Ravenclaw Sherlock, Uni!lock, University, they're potterheads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 23:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6398629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonQuill907/pseuds/dragonQuill907
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John's first Wednesday of university is completely, definitely, absolutely not going as planned, especially when he sits in front of a Ravenclaw during biology.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Would You Know?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this tumblr post:http://fuckyeahteenlock.tumblr.com/post/141569929398/johnlocktm-thejohntent-i-just-thought-in-my

Ah, the first week of university. It was filled with all sorts of marvelous sights and sounds. John had already seen the obligatory game of rugby in the quad, the cliche group of angsty musicians singing about their feelings, and the over-excited first-years.

John was more of a “these-are-going-to-be-the-most-stressful-years-of-your-life” first-year. He didn’t know a single person besides his insane roommate (Dave), who had insisted on spending the entirety of last night (a  _ Tuesday _ , no less) finding all the good bars in town. John had refused to go, and his roommate had come back utterly sloshed sometime around midnight. It hadn’t been a pretty morning after that. Long story short, John needed new trainers.

It was Wednesday now, and John’s biology class was meeting for the first time. It was in a lecture hall halfway across campus, and he had left his dorm much too late to get anywhere on time.

That would explain why John Watson was currently jogging through groups of friendly girls and uber-affectionate couples. Frankly, he didn’t care if he bumped into some of them. Who formed a wall when they were walking down the sidewalk, anyway? Who thought that was a good idea? 

John glanced at his watch and decided that he wouldn’t be late if he moved just a little faster. He probably looked like an idiot, wearing loafers (the only shoes that hadn’t been vomited on), dark jeans (that, as hard as they were to run in, made his arse look terrific), a dark red hoodie (his favorite possession), and his bright yellow backpack (which, yes, had been Harry’s at one point), and running past passersby like mad.

It was going to be an interesting day.

As John walked into the lecture hall his biology class occupied, he was faced with an entirely new set of problems:

  1. He wasn’t as late as he thought and was therefore breathing quite heavily for no reason other than being paranoid on the way to class.
  2. The people who would see him every Wednesday and Friday morning for the rest of the year were now staring at him in the stupid loafers-and-jeans combo he’d been forced to choose after waking up to a hungover roommate this morning.
  3. He had not eaten breakfast this morning, and his nerves did nothing to calm his empty stomach.
  4. There was not a single familiar face in the entire room.



John swallowed and scanned the room, searching for absolutely anything he could relate to. There was a small group of rugby lads laughing and throwing paper balls in the back corner, but John didn’t feel like getting a reputation as one of  _ those _ students. He could choose to be a ladykiller and sit by the girls chattering away in the middle rows; however, he thought the distraction of so many conversations during class wouldn’t be terribly conducive to learning. It was absolutely hell, deciding where to sit. At least in primary school, there’d been assigned seating.

John’s eyes landed on a curly-haired boy sitting in the third row, earbuds in and eyes closed. The blond had the sudden urge to know what the brunet was listening to. John let himself catalogue the rest of the boy’s features. His dark eyelashes cast faint shadows on sharp cheekbones, and a small smile was playing on his cupid’s bow lips. The boy wore a faded blue Ravenclaw t-shirt, dark skinny jeans, and black Converse shoes.

He wasn’t sure how he decided it, but John sat in the seat directly in front of the pale boy, hoping beyond hope that he would get a chance to talk to him. John opened his bag and retrieved a notebook, idly doodling on the cover.

There came a hard poke on John’s shoulder, and he turned to face the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. The boy had taken out only one of his earbuds, and John could hear faint notes of a violin drifting from the loose one.

“Hel-”

“Deathly Hallows,” the boy pointed out, gesturing to the ink on John’s notebook. His voice was deep and clear, and John wanted to hear it again. “Harry Potter fan?”

“Is there anyone sane who isn’t?”

The boy smirked, nodding minutely.  “Gryffindor,” he blurted. 

John frowned. “God, no. Hufflepuff.”

The curly-haired boy scowled and sat back. “That’s even worse.”

“Oh, come on. Really?”

“Yes,  _ really _ . I’d had some hope you were a Ravenclaw. Even a Slytherin would have been preferable to a  _ Hufflepuff. _ ”

“Hey,” John protested, “just because I’m a Hufflepuff doesn’t mean I’m not intelligent or ambitious or brave.”

“I’m sure,” the other student drawled. “You’re just too stupid to be in Ravenclaw, too unmotivated to be in Slytherin, and too cowardly to be in Gryffindor.”

John’s mouth dropped open. “I’ll have you know I’m-”

The door slammed open, and in walked a lanky man with wire glasses.

“All right, everyone,” announced the professor. “Wrap up your conversations! This isn’t social hour.”

John licked his lips before opening his mouth to talk, but he turned away from the dark-haired boy anyway. Wouldn’t do well to make an enemy of his professor on the first day. That didn’t stop him, however, from writing down another list of a few things he remembered.

 

_ To: the Ravenclaw sitting behind me in biology _

 

  * __Nymphadora Tonks, Hufflepuff, fought in the Battle of Hogwarts shortly after giving birth, losing her life in the process__


  * _Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff, competed in the 1994 Triwizard Cup Tournament, was willing to split the winnings with Harry Potter, lost his life_


  * _Newt Scamander, Hufflepuff, made some of the most significant magical discoveries of the wizarding world_


  * _Helga Hufflepuff, one of four founders of Hogwarts, believed all students should be treated and taught the same no matter their ancestry, bloodline, race, or skill level_


  * _Teddy Lupin, Hufflepuff head boy, lost both his parents in the Battle of Hogwarts (with parents like Remus and Tonks, it’s hard not to be awesome)_


  * _The great J.K. Rowling herself revealed that her own Sorting Hat quiz put her in Hufflepuff. You know, the Sorting Hat she created?_



 

_ If you’ve any objections, feel free to text the number below. _

 

John folded the paper into fours and stuck it in his pocket, frowning. He was supposed to be paying attention to the professor, but there he was trying to convince some kid he’d never met before that his house wasn’t any better than John’s.  _ And _ he was 100% prepared to give him his phone number. Was he really prepared to throw away his life for Harry Potter?

Okay, not that it was  _ that _ serious, but still. Biology was kind of vital if one was to be a doctor, and so far, John hadn’t paid a lick of attention, not even during the first two thirds of roll call. He was lucky he’d been born with a ‘W’ surname.

_ Yup, I’m going to fail, _ John thought, picking up his pen and starting to really, actually, seriously take notes on this real, actual, serious class.

Twenty minutes passed before a small piece of folded paper fell on John’s desk. He covered it with his elbow, desperate not to get caught. He had flashbacks to primary school and being forced to read his notes to the class. God, that had been embarrassing. A word of advice to the reader: as adorable as it seems at the time, don’t ask out another human via notebook paper airplanes and the hands of three other students. You  _ will _ get caught, and you  _ will _ want to melt into a puddle of mush and/or goo as you ask that certain special human on a date in front of your entire seventh year class. Just ask John. He knows how it feels.

Anyway, John had covered the note with his hand, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Oh, why’d he have to sit in the second row? It’d be so painfully obvious if he were to open the note now, even though he desperately wanted to.

John waited until his professor had turned his back to the class before opening the piece of paper.

 

_ “Hufflepuff,” _

_ I refuse to believe that that mundane house is yours. I can see it in every part of you, from how you walked in the room to the color of your shirt to how you sit. You’re a Gryffindor, and you won’t be able to convince me otherwise. _

_ -Ravenclaw _

 

John rolled his eyes and clicked his pen a few times, wondering how to respond.

 

_ Ravenclaw, _

_ Believe whatever you like. I know I’m a Hufflepuff, and there’s no way I’m going to betray my house. That’s the thing about Hufflepuffs, you know. Extremely loyal? Yeah. I don’t have anything against Gryffindors. I’m just not one of them. _

_ - _ **_Actual_ ** _ Hufflepuff _

 

John folded the paper, held it between two fingers, and held it out to the boy behind him. The note was snatched away by cool fingers almost as soon as John offered it. A mere minute later, there was another note.

 

_ Gryffindor, _

_ You should learn not to question me. _

_ -Ravenclaw _

 

_ Ravenclaw, _

_ What’s that supposed to mean? _

_ - _ **_Hufflepuff_ **

 

“Remember to have your lab books by next Wednesday,” the professor announced, turning to the class once more. John pocketed the note he’d just written, along with the ones from the boy behind him. “Class is here again Friday. Don’t forget. Okay, class dismissed. Go, get out.”

John closed his notebook and stood, gathering his things quickly as to have time to talk to the persistent Ravenclaw. He felt a little stupid, like he’d already developed a crush on the boy, even though he’d only criticized John and his house.

Whatever. It was fine. John would get over it. He could do that. Probably.

“Gryffindor,” the boy said again. 

John looked over, an eyebrow raised, to see the curly-haired boy smiling faintly. His eyes raked up and down the brunet’s body, taking in all the features he’d missed before. The other boy was at least four inches taller than John; rather than being intimidating, it seemed to fit what little of his personality John had glimpsed so far. In the fluorescent light of the lecture room, the boy’s eyes were bright blue, almost grey.

“See?” he continued, walking out of the classroom next to John. “You respond to it.  _ Gryffindor _ .”

“Hufflepuff. And yes, I respond to that because you’ve insisted that’s what I am.”

“You walk like one,” the other boy explained. “You exude confidence. You know who you are and what you’re doing. You’re even standing like a Gryffindor.”

“I don’t think that has much to do with what I value,” John replied. “Also, I have no clue what I’m doing around forty percent of the time.”

“And what do you value,  _ Hufflepuff _ ?”

John rolled his eyes. “Okay, for example, I’d rather be a kind and honest man than a genius.”

“I wouldn’t. I’m actually a genius.”

“That’s why you’re the Ravenclaw,” John laughed. “Plus, I don’t see how you can know so much about me when we’ve hardly talked at all.”

The taller boy scowled. “I know you’re studying to be a doctor, that you have a younger brother, and that one or both of your parents are in the military. You smell faintly of alcohol but you’re totally sober, so it was your roommate who stayed out last night. Your shoes are old but quite durable; you don’t have money to spend on frivolous things like that, but you’re at a fairly good university, one good enough to gain the approval of my own family. Therefore, you’ve received a scholarship. The books in your bag tell me that you’re taking several science courses, which means you’re going into that field. Your insistence on being a Hufflepuff means that you’re probably dreadfully helpful; you’ve just confirmed it by stating that you’d rather be kind than a genius. So, doctor it is. Now, for your brother: he’s easy enough. You’ve got a used backpack that’s a bit small for you, even with the straps adjusted all the way, so it’s from a younger sibling. The stitching on the front says ‘Harry,’ which is not your name. So, Harry’s your younger brother. Military family was more of a guess, but a good one. Your stance and haircut practically scream ‘military.’ You showed up to class despite needing to wear such a dreadful combination of those loafers with those jeans, which means you’re disciplined, disciplined enough to get to class despite major setbacks. Another reason for deducing the scholarship, by the way. But yes, Hufflepuff, I know much more about you than you think.”

“Brilliant.”

The Ravenclaw’s cheeks turned a flattering shade of pink. “You really think so?”

“Of course!” John exclaimed, grinning. “That was amazing. You really are a genius.”

“Did I get everything right?”

“Not all of it. Yeah, my mum’s in the military. She’s in Afghanistan right now. And I did get a scholarship, one I very much deserved. But, well, Harry’s my sister.”

“Sister,” the taller boy spat. “There’s always something.”

John laughed. “How’d you know Harry wasn’t my name?”

“Really, John?”

All the air rushed from John’s lungs when he heard the other student speak his name. It was an ordinary name, not really anything special, but when the taller boy said it, it was like honey in warm tea.

“Um. Yeah. How?”

“Ah, you know, I pay attention to roll call, unlike  _ other _ students in biology. I thought I saw you writing. What was that?”

“I’ll grant you that,” John laughed.“Are you sure you don’t know what it is?”

The Ravenclaw smirked. “I can’t see everything.”

John nodded and grinned, offering the taller boy his list. “Sure. Yeah, here it is. I’ve got to go check on my roommate before my next class. Make sure he hasn’t thrown up on anything else, you know.”

The Ravenclaw immediately pocketed the note, not bothering to look at it. “Of course. Until Friday, John.” 

“I still don’t know your name.”

“I’ll text you.”

 

**Two hours later**

_ (13:48) _

_ Having admittedly amazing parents does not necessarily make one amazing, but I see your point. After much deliberation, I was unable to name a specific instance in which there was evidence of a Hufflepuff acting inherently weak, incapable, or cowardly. Congratulations. SH _

_ (13:49) _

_ Oh, and the name’s Sherlock Holmes. Coffee? SH _


End file.
